Martali Wine

The story of „MartaliWine“ began in 2016 when a Georgian and a German friend embarked on a journey to restart the Bitskinashvili family´s rich tradition of winemaking and take it to contemporary standards in terms of quality and quantity. The name „Martali Wine“ embodies our philosophy and attitude towards wine and viticulture, which was best expressed by Georgia´s national poet, nobleman and philosopher Ilia Chavchavadze. In his 19th century´treatise on winemaking´, Ilia expressed his conviction that a „true“ and authentic wine must only be produced by employing the traditional Georgian methods and minimal outside intervention.

Our wine is made by the 8000 year old traditional Georgian method of spontaneous fermentation in clay vessels (qvevri) which are buried in the wine cellar. When the fermentation processes have ceased and the wine has had time to settle, it is then bottled after about one year´s time.

Our red grapes of the most prominent endemic Georgian variety, Saperavi, are grown only a few kilometres from Shashiani in the village of Akhasheni. The microzone of „Papris Mindori“ is one of the most well-renowned in all of Georgia. Overlooking the fertile lands of the Alazani river valley, and offering breathtaking views of the Greater Caucasus, it is nestled between the wooded slopes of Tsiv-Gombori mountain range and two small river gorges mostly formed by the annual melt water runoff. The white grape variety are grown in Shashiani itself. The soil is composed of loam, gravel, alluvium, and limestone. Aided by the long, dry summer period in Kakheti, the grapes grown here are of the highest quality. Since 2017 our vineyards are constantly monitored and certified by the company „Caucascert“ to ensure that all standards of organic viticulture are met.